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Alab Anwel Biranej & Leiroj Takbad Ishiguro

Championing Waste Reduction in Jenrok

On Majuro Atoll Jenrok Village is known for its overcrowded living conditions, rampant poverty, and poor access to basic needs such as clean water.

But now Alab Anwel Biranej, the alab (clan head) of Jenrok Village is working hard to make it a better place to live.

“Because I didn’t live here before there was no one to get the people moving,” says Biranej. “There was no leadership and people weren’t scared (to litter) but since I’ve been back people have started to take action (to clean the community).

“Jenrok was really dirty. There was no sense of community pride,” he says.

Biranej lives in the heart of Jenrok. Like others, his home is crammed closely together into the other homes on Jenrok weto (parcel of land).

“When I was a young boy there were only three houses in Jenrok and lots of trees,” he says. “Now there are too many homes crammed together.”

Recognizing the need to address the over crowding and the solid waste problems that have started to consume the community, Biranej and other traditional leaders of Jenrok village including Leiroj Takbad Ishiguro replied to the call by IWP to pilot a community waste reduction site at Jenrok.

“Trash is a modern problem,” says Ishiguro. “Traditionally everything was biodegradable. We didn’t need to separate trash, it wasn’t a problem. But now we have imported stuff.

“I want my community to move forward,” said Ishiguro. “I understand that trash can cause sickness and if people are too sick to go to school or go to work then they can’t better themselves,” she says.

Ishiguro has been involved in many EPA workshops targeted at raising awareness about recycling and reducing our solid waste.

“They are always telling us to separate our trash and recycle,” said Ishiguro “We can separate our trash but it will all just end up at the dump. What’s the point?

“We need action. We know what we need to do but we need the tools to help us, such as separate bins for recyclables, incinerators and a collection point for non-biodegradable or toxic trash to ship back to the US to recycle or to dispose of properly,” she says.

“The community has developed the mindset to separate trash,” said Biranej, “We’ve learned this through IWP project. People are getting used to using the IWP recycling bins. Often, I see the children collecting cans and putting them in the recycle bin.”

While plans for are still in the works to develop a nation wide approach to dealing with trash, Biranej and his Jenrok community continue to carry out their weekly community clean ups and can recycling programs.

“We’re cleaning as a community now,” says Biranej.

“Even if this pilot project ends, we will still continue on with the clean up activities because it doesn’t cost us anything to clean, but the benefits are great.”

Through involvement in the IWP project activities, Biranej now sees other possible solutions to solve Jenrok’s solid waste problems such as the establishment of a community recycling centre that would also work as an income generating program.

An analysis of Jenrok’s waste found that nearly 70 per cent is either recyclable or compostable. The IWP is now preparing a business plan for a proposed centralized facility at Jenrok that would address recycling and composting matters.

Unfortunately in Majuro there are currently no financial incentives for people to recycle, compost, or minimize the amount of garbage that they currently generate. In Kiribati the Government has introduced a refund system for all aluminium cans, plastic PET bottles and car batteries. A 5-cent levy is placed on all bottles and cans coming into the country with 4 cents provided as a refund and 1 cent kept to help fund the operation of the system.

It is hoped that the Jenrok business plan will help to inform the Marshall Islands Government on the national viability of any future activities to divert unnecessary material from the countries overflowing dumpsites.